Just a few things that caught my eye ...

• Fashion advice for Joel Ward -- nothing goes well with goat horns. Nothing.

• Conn Smith? I really don't think it's too early to anoint Mike Smith a serious front-runner for the Conn Smythe.

• What a way to celebrate your 40th birthday. Martin Brodeur appears to have found the fountain of youth this postseason. All things seem to point to one more season from him, but what are the odds that he goes out on top if the Devils pull out a miracle Cup? Just speculating ...

• Mike Smith and Sean Burke are a goaltending marriage made in heaven -- both are big with even bigger (read: feistier) attitudes.

• Did the Flyers win their Cup in the first round? The emotion they displayed against Pittsburgh has completely disappeared against New Jersey. How is that even possible?

• Brad Richards = clutch. I've loved him for far too long. His autographed stick has a special place in my house.

• So, what has been the bigger contributor to the Kings success? Dustin Brown's 10 points so far? His two game winners? Maybe being in on four shorthanded goals? I'd argue all three are impressive. But his clean, bone-crunching, open-ice hit on Henrik Sedin was simply outstanding ... and the thing that has fueled the Kings thus far.

• Would Nashville be in a different position right now if they won a few more face-offs? If they won any? And don't even get me started on shots they fired wide OR my boy Shea's apparent indifference. Or, or, or ...

• Do you think Greg Jamison, former president and CEO of the Sharks, thinks he's more likely to win a Cup in the desert than in Silicon Valley? And how exactly is a guy who's still part of one team's ownership group sign a tentative agreement to buy another? 

• Braden Holtby deserved a better fate. He just missed smothering the puck by milliseconds on the game-tying goal and then didn't see a thing on the winner.

• You have to love the Jordan Nolan story. Son of outcast former coach-of-the-year Ted, he was passed over twice in the NHL Entry Draft before going 186th to the Kings in 2009. He clawed his way to a contract and top-line duty in the AHL before a February call-up to the Kings. And now he has played, albeit lightly, in all of the Kings playoff games. The goal Sunday was the icing (so far) on his dream cake. 

• Why is it that playoff success can make a goaltender great, but a great goaltender can't guarantee success in the playoffs? You know who I'm talking to ...

• Kevin Shattenkirk's goal showed off his potential for greatness. His panic walking the line with the goalie pulled showed he has a long way to go to achieve that greatness.

• How do you not cheer for the Desert Dawgs? They have such a tight budget that they have to practice on rented ice and workout in relative anonymity alongside soccer moms and snowbirds at a public gym. Hey, I wonder how they deal with the gym gawkers?

• Claude, Claude, Claude -- what were you thinking? I loved your leadership in Round 1, but that elbow made me think of your WWF namesake, Dink the Clown. Your sidekick, Doink (a.k.a. Scott Hartnell), is going to really have to pick up the slack if you expect to see another game this postseason.